24 teams from 10 different countries around the Middle East battled it out in the regional finals of the third cycle of the Arab Mobile Challenge at Algiers, Algeria in January this year, with the competition aiming to find mobile apps that would be able to make a positive impact across their respective communities. While Sudan’s Vision Geeks and Kuwait’s Bookr won US$20,000 each to help bring their apps to market, five other teams –Synoos from Algeria, Doha Guide from Qatar, Raye7 from Egypt, MyU from Kuwait and GraviLog from Palestine- were qualified to compete at the Global Mobile Challenge, which takes place at the GSMA World Congress at Barcelona, Spain in February.

This year’s contest saw Ooredoo acting as the technological partner for the event, with Ooredoo Algeria CEO Joseph Ged saying the company’s support support was a reiteration of “the constant commitment of Ooredoo to continue its policy of encouraging national talents and skills through its various programs, including iStart, tstart, Oobarmijoo and Injaz.” Entrepreneur Middle East was a media partner for the event organized by Imtiaz Middle East, with BNC Publishing Director Wissam Younane also acting as a judge for the competition.

The Mobile Apps That Stood Out At AMC 2016

Best Idea Stage Track (Winner of US$20,000): Vision Geeks from Sudan, an app to aid the visually impaired

Best Startup Stage Track (Winner of US$20,000): Bookr from Kuwait, an app to book any appointment-based service

Qualified to compete at Global Mobile Challenge during the GSMA Mobile World Congress at Barcelona in February:

Synoos from Algeria, an app to help kids to improve their Arabic language, math and logical skills

Doha Guide from Qatar, an app to find services and search without the use of the Internet

Raye7 from Egypt, a carpooling mobile app tailored for the MENA region